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Everything you should know about The Gold Cup!
Updated: Jul 24, 2022
The Gold Cup, run by the Concacaf, was started in 1963. This event is a competition between the best teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
The competition this year starts on July 11 and finishes with the Final on Aug 2nd. All the games will be played across 11 different cities in the USA.
Mexico is the reigning champion and heavy favourites to win this year. The country’s team won the Gold Cup in 2019 and have won it a record 11 times.
But what about some of the other teams in the competition? Let’s take a look.
Even though the USA is ranked 23rd by FIFA, they hope to win this year’s tournament as the official hosts and having being victorious on 5 different occasions, most recently in 2017.
Many Premier League fans will be familiar with big stars like Cristian Pulisic who turn out for the Stars and Stripes.
Canada, the other big team in North America, hopes to have a good showing as they will be co-hosting the World Cup in 2026.
Their best player, Alphonso Davies, is a UCL winner from 2020 who plays for Bayern Munich.
Honduras, the 1981 winners and the 4th most successful team from this competition, will be expected to make a good run at the Cup and are unbeaten in the last 4 games before Covid hit.
Costa Rica is ranked 46 by FIFA and have made 5 out of the last 8 World Cups since 1990. Their big moment came in 1989 when they lifted the Gold Cup. PSG fans will be cheering on their goalkeeper, Keylor Navas, who plays for this tiny country of just 5 million people.
Certainly, this is the strongest team from Central America and will give anyone a good run for their money.
El Savador, the first Central American team to qualify for a World Cup in 1970, will be hoping to build on their last 8th place finish back in 2017. MLS followers will of course know Darwin Ceren who has been capped by his country 64 times.
Curaco, known more for its liquor than its football, has really made progress jumping to 80th place from 183th in just 6 short years. They have two brothers, Leando and Juninho Bacuna, who will be hoping to impress would-be Premier League scouts.
However, nobody expects them to improve on their 3rd place finish in 1969.
Qatar, a guest country for the 2021 edition of the Gold Cup, surely will want to dazzle in this tournament. The reigning Asian Champions will be relying on Seb Soria who has netted 40 goals for the Crimsons.
Next year’s World Cup hosts are surely not to be overlooked.
Many of the matches will be played in sweltering Texas, where many a water break will be needed.
Like many tournaments in the last year, the Gold Cup had to be postponed due to the pandemic but, rest assured, the delay will take nothing away from the quality of the football on display.
What do we know about the stadiums?
The Q2 stadium is a brand spanking new stadium in Austin, Texas with a capacity of 20K. It is a purpose-built stadium for football and is inspired by the taste and sounds of the trendy city.
The Final will be hosted at the Allegiant Stadium, home to the NFL Raiders . This stadium is located in the world famous Las Vegas. In case you have a bad seat at the game, there are over 2000 screens to catch the Final.
Usually in August the mercury will climb above 40c but with today’s precautions adopted by FIFA, the players will be well taken care of.
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